Shkreli donated $2,700 to the Sanders campaign, the largest amount an individual can donate to a political campaign, in an attempt to coax Sanders into having a discussion about the pharmaceutical industry. Shkreli doesn’t realize that Sanders can’t be bought. Sanders rejected the donation and denied Shkreli’s proposal for a meeting.

“We are not keeping the money from this poster boy for drug company greed,” said Sanders campaign spokesperson Michael Briggs. Instead of keeping the money, the campaign will donate the money to the Whitman-Walker health clinic in Washington. Shkreli took the rejection personally.

“I think it’s cheap to use one person’s action as a platform without kind of talking to that person,” Shkreli said in the interview. “He’ll take my money, but he won’t engage with me for five minutes to understand this issue better.”

Sanders didn’t “take” the money, but gave it to a medical cause. Shkreli is the face of the Big Pharma monster that treats human life like a profit engine.

For more on this story, visit the Boston Globe “Bernie Sanders rejects donation from drug company CEO”

Farron Cousins is the executive editor of The Trial Lawyer magazine and a contributing writer at DeSmogBlog.com. He is the co-host / guest host for Ring of Fire Radio. His writings have appeared on Alternet, Truthout, and The Huffington Post. Farron received his bachelor's degree in Political Science from the University of West Florida in 2005 and became a member of American MENSA in 2009. Follow him on Twitter @farronbalanced